Mundane Wish vs Wasteful Wishing: Mundane Wish vs Wasteful Wishing

I just saw the launch of a trope, Mundane Wish, but I'm not entirely certain if it's any different from the trope Wasteful Wishing. The only difference I can see is that Wasteful Wishing is the wisher messing up and wishing for something stupid, whereas Mundane Wish is done on purpose and/or is still practical. But I'm not sure if that's just my opinion.

edited 21st May '11 6:39:55 PM by sgamer82

That's the difference, and they're sufficiently different to be two tropes.

The distinction between Mundane Wish and Wasteful Wishing you mentioned is the same one I found. Looking over the examples of Mundane Wish on its page, however, I think most of them are really just examples of Wasteful Wishing. That indicates to me that the trope as it is being used is redundant.

I think that Mundane Wish does have the potential to be a trope though. I just believe that its description and examples need to be cleaned up to make it more clearly distinct from Wasteful Wishing.

edited 21st May '11 8:29:32 PM by LouieW

Check the wicks. Examples can be shoehorned in easily; far fewer people take the time to pop over to the matching work's page and add it there.

For the time being, I've tried to shift around the relevant examples. A couple of debatable cases I left in both.

sgamer 82,

Thanks for doing that. I might switch some of the Mundane Wish examples that are just Wasteful Wishing to that trope, but I would like to get a better idea of what Mundane Wish actually means before doing that.

Madrugada,

Here is what I found in the wicks (assuming I understood what you meant by that word).

• Sponge Bob Square Pants: Character wasted a wish.
• Ah My Goddess: Unintential wish on something seemingly mundane.
• Animaniacs: Trope is considered subverted because what is wished for actually helps someone revive his hometown.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Related trope.
• Bedazzled: I am not sure if this is misuse based on not having seen this movie. I would guess that it is not though.
• Dragon Ball: Trope is considered to be averted because character wishes for something unimportant. Given that that is the trope Mundane Wish, I think this is misuse.
• Example as a Thesis: Trope description is considered to be Example as a Thesis.
• Jak And Daxter: Seems to be a correct use of this trope.
• Laconical List of Subtle Trope Distinctions: Describes the difference between the two tropes in question.
• Magic and Powers: This is an index.
• Make a Wish: Mundane Wish described as the comic version of this trope.
• Misapplied Phlebotinum: This is a related trope.
• Mundane Wish: The laconic page for this trope.
• Mundane Utility: This is a related trope.
• Mundane Wish: This is the trope in question.
• NintendoCapriSun: This is a correct use.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica: I think this is a correct use.
• Rooster Teeth Shorts: I think this is a correct use.
• Rule of Funny: This is an index.
• Sneakers: I think this is a correct use.
• The Fairly Oddparents: Character wastes wishes.
• The Last Hero: I think this is a correct use.
• The Simpsons M-Z: I think this is a correct use.
• Trope Distinctions/S-Z: This page says that a Mundane Wish is not usually frivolous. If that is true, then I think many of the examples already mentioned as being correct uses may not be.
• The Twilight Zone: I think this is a correct use.
• Three Wishes: I think this is a correct use.
• Tropes A-M: I think this is a correct use, but to be honest, I do not really understand it.
• Wakkos Wish: Trope is considered subverted because what is wished for actually helps someone revive his hometown.
• Wasteful Wishing: The other trope in question.
• Whose Line Is It Anyway: I think this is an example of someone wasting a wish.
• Xkcd: I think this is a correct use.
• Zathura: It is implied that this is a wasted wish, but it could be a correct use.

I think there were fewer examples of Mundane Wish being used in place of Wasteful Wishing than I thought there were, but given how relatively few examples Mundane Wish has, I think some more clarification in the description would be a good idea.

What confuses me a bit is how the two different trope distinction pages give different distinctions between the two tropes. I do not think many of the examples of Mundane Wish fit the distinction in the second trope distinction page, but I could be wrong. Also, many of the related tropes that mention Mundane Wish, just say that it is wishing played for laughs. Since that could feasibly apply to Wasteful Wishing as well, I am not sure if those mentions of Mundane Wish show that the troper who added them necessarily understands what Mundane Wish is supposed to mean.

I wonder if whether or not a wish is wasted kind of depends on how the audience thinks about it too. I realize I might not have been very clear, so if anyone wants me to clarify more, feel free to ask me to do so.

edited 22nd May '11 11:34:52 AM by LouieW

The Dresden Files one is definitely a Mundane Wish. Dresden wishes for something silly and frivolous, but does so specifically as a time-buying gambit. An antagonist is threatening Harry's life, but the reason he's doing so will become moot in a short amount of time. Harry just needs the guy to go away for a long enough time. The antagonist, honor bound by the wish and also sympathetic ot Dresden's position, goes along with it.

The description makes a good distinction in my mind - are we finished here?

Yeah, we can lock this up.